'Big Brother Reindeer Games' Episode 3 Recap: Intense Elimination Ends in Tears

Big Brother Reindeer Games is ditching the nice list and going full naughty! The holiday spinoff of Big Brother is way more intense than I thought it would be — I mean, episode 3 was more blue Christmas than it was holly jolly! Let's recap Big Brother Reindeer Games episode 3! So on Donder and Blitzen, let's get into it. 

We pick up after Cody's elimination, and with such a huge threat out of the game, things are wide open. Taylor and Nicole are thinking a girls' alliance, but when the girls start to notice that Danielle is wheeling and dealing with Xavier – let's just say their alliance seems doomed. 

It's then that our next Santa's Elf enters to shake things up, and it's Derek X! Who doesn't love him? Well, maybe the players after he introduces this Naughty or Nice Challenge, which has them running around the lodge unscrambling Christmas cookies to find out why the Christmas crooner's girlfriend dumped him for a 2-minute head start in the next challenge.

Surprisingly enough, it's not the singing that had the crooner's girlfriend packing her stocking! He was too clingy, and it's Taylor who solves the riddle. Not only does she get her advantage, she gets to award a disadvantage — and while her number one target is Frankie, she's not his number one target right now, so she gives it to her ally Josh after he volunteers.  

And honestly, I wonder if Josh regrets that, because the Jingle Bell Brawl is a tough one. Stacking the pieces of this gingerbread man with tweezers is tough enough, and Josh's puzzle key is covered for five whole minutes. It's brutal, just like Nicole's first win. Luckily her second one stuck.

Nicole now has the power to choose just one person to enter Santa's Showdown. The way it works is if they win the timed challenge, they have to pick someone else to compete, and that player will have less time. The first person not to complete it? They're packing their Christmas sweaters and heading home. 

Ooh, the strategy is tricky here — do you pick an ally to go first so they have the most time? Or someone you want to go home? Nicole decides to go with the former, picking her ally Frankie to go first in this snow globe hamster wheel maze puzzle. Frankie knocks it out of the park, but the person he chooses next is going to have one less minute than he did. And that person is Xavier, who doesn't know if Frankie is doing him a solid or…wants him to go home.

X finishes with just seconds left, and it seems like whoever goes next – it's a death sentence in this game. Needless to say, Britney is NOT thrilled to be chosen. Everyone thinks she's a goner, but AMAZINGLY, Britney kills it, she finishes with a minute and 18 seconds left. It's an emotional moment for everyone.

But now Britney has to choose the next person to go in – and Xavier just told her he put her in because he's trying to keep Danielle safe, so she picks Danielle. And Dani is NOT happy. If you've been watching these recaps you know I'm a Danielle stan, but she just never can get this challenge going, and she ends up being eliminated.

More emotional moments! Britney feels bad she was put in that position in the first place, and Taylor breaks down because Danielle was one of the reasons she joined Big Brother! Dani is always a legend, so I was happy she got the $5,000 exit prize even if I'll miss her from the lodge.

What do you think of Reindeer Games so far now that we're at the halfway mark? Share in the comments below!